U2 Opens Up About 'You're The Best Thing About Me'

U2’s brand new album Songs of Experience (their 14th studio album and a follow-up to 2014's Songs of Innocence), is set to be released on Dec. 1.

As an introduction to this 13-song collection, the band gave fans the lead single “You’re The Best Thing About Me” back in September.

Frontman Bono tells iHeartRadio the song “is about the best thing about me, which is definitely, unarguably my missus, my partner, Ali.

“I started to go out with her the same week I joined U2. I was 16 years old. And there's a part of me still 16 when she's around. Unfortunately, there's another part of me that needs to grow up, and that's kind of what the song's about.”

Bono adds: “I'm always a little suspicious of love songs without a twist, because I've never met a great relationship that didn't have a turn in the road, or some kind of twist in it. I've never been more in love than I am now, but I would never want to do my missus the disservice of a sentimental love song. She would not like that at all. I want to make her laugh. I want to make her cry. In 'You're the Best Thing About Me,' I think I do a little bit of both."

U2’s Adam Clayton explains why the band chose “You’re The Best Thing About Me” as the first single. “Really, there's nothing like it on the album … and it's kind of a joyful song. I guess, in another lifetime you'd call it a pop song. And it's what we wanted to get people's attention with. We wanted to get on the radio with it. And that seems to have been what's happened. People really like this song.”

The artwork for Songs of Experience shows U2 guitarist The Edge’s daughter Sian and Bono’s son Eli.

Clayton said they are meant to look like “these sort of people of the future with their lives ahead of them, and on the road if you like, to experience."

He added: “There's something wonderful when you see someone, a young person with that innocence and you know that life is gonna change them, and they'll never get that back. But hopefully, life will be kind to them.”